Spy Games

Last night before bed, John-Paul and Andrew asked to play "Spy". "Sure, go ahead," I told them, and then they asked "But how do you play?"

Good gracious, I'm a girl, how do I know? So I called in the big guns, aka, Phil.

Before I knew it they were all commando crawling around the floor, sneaking up against the walls, doing dazzling run-and-roll combinations to keep out of sight.

John-Paul and Andrew disappeared for a few minutes, and next thing I saw these spies running by:





I just love it when Phil gets to play all boyish with the kids. He has a much better imagination than I do when it comes to that stuff, and I really appreciate that about him. I, on the other hand, can't wait to do girly games with Maggie, braid her hair (if it ever grows in!) and have tea parties with princesses! Lord have mercy!!

No Fun

John-Paul and Andrew (mostly Andrew) have been complaining that we don't do anything fun. What?!?!? Here's a look at our last week:

Friday - Go to the zoo
Saturday - Go to beach and have friends over
Sunday - Go to Chuckie Cheese (it was a rainy day)
Monday - Go to the zoo and see the Toe Jam Puppet Band (great kid's music!)
Tuesday - Go to Beach
Wednesday - Play at cousins house and then go in sprinkler at home
Thursday - Go to Camp to play with their school friends

Maybe we're doing too many fun things so that we have raised their expectations. Now as soon as they wake up, they want to know what the plan is for the day, what they are going to eat, where we are going to go. It's driving me crazy!! Is this a typical stage that kids go through, or are mine just harder than your average kiddo?

While we're speaking of no fun...our fridge is still not working properly! We are lucky enough to have a freezer that is running at about the same temp as a normal fridge, so we can keep a few items on hand. I know I will never take my fridge for granted again!!

Fridge on the Fritz

So our fridge is not working properly.

The fridge temp is 60 degrees, and the freezer is 20 degrees. Which means that the food in our fridge has spoiled and our freezer has now become a sort of temporary fridge for our milk.

My awesome landlord (aka Dad) is coming over today with a repairman to see what they can do. Hopefully we won't have to buy a new fridge, I'll keep ya posted!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Who's the FATTEST of them all?

This is one of my pet peeves; how different mirrors can make you look better or worse (aka skinnier or fatter).

Case in point: When I go to my gym to workout, I usually feel pretty good about myself as I catch a glimpse in the mirror while I'm lifting weights or as I walk from the treadmill to the Nautilus equipment. I seem to look leaner, tanner, and that makes me feel good.

Then I get home, and I see my reflection in my bathroom mirror, and think of how much more I should've worked out, or how this sags, or that could look better. And I wonder, is it just the lighting that is different? Is it all in my head? Do I just feel better about my image while I am working out than when I am back home?

But I think the answer is that the mirrors are all slightly skewed. I remember a friend who used to work at this J Crew outlet tell me that the mirrors in the dressing room make you look taller, leaner, etc. so that you are more likely to buy the clothes. Then you get home, and say "What was I thinking when I bought this itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini?"

Hmmmm, all I know is that I'm gonna believe that the mirrors at the gym and the one in my bedroom are showing me the real reflection of myself, and all those other mirrors that make me feel worse are not true images at all. Yeah, that makes me feel better, a little!

And this little ditty is soooo true:

If anybody's still interested

I had an appointment with the Ob/Gyn yesterday about my ovarian cyst, and basically they start to get worried when the cyst is over 5 cm and mine measures at around 3 cm. So they're gonna give me another ultrasound in about 6 weeks to see if it has grown or remained the same, or hopefully shrinks on its own. Seems as though there's not much to be concerned about until we know better what's going on.
He was very thorough and asked a bunch or questions, including "Do you have any trouble getting pregnant?" I had to laugh at that one and say, "Nope, we have trouble NOT getting pregnant!" C'mon, 4 kids in 5 years, sometimes I feel like this lady:

I've trained them well

While I sat around eating bon-bons, John-Paul cooked dinner and Andrew and Eamon vaccumed my bedroom. Ah, if only!

Maybe I could homeschool after all...

...if they always did this:



...and she always did this:

Yet another reason...

...why I am glad to be Catholic. Read this crazy story!

Summertime Fun

We've been having so much fun with the kids this summer that I'm afraid they're not going to want to go back to school in the fall!!
These are just some pictures of the activities that have been keeping them entertained. Going to the park and playground is the most requested and most fulfilled event. Phil and I bring our rollerblades, the kids bring their bikes, and we all ride around the park, then stop to play on the swings and slides.
A couple of weeks ago, we all went to a Cape Cod Baseball League game. This league is very popular and has had lots of famous ballplayers come through it. The boys were a little young to sit still for very long, so we only stayed for about 45 minutes, but it was fun and free, so who can argue with that!
We've also been going to any festival that's around, which is about one each weekend, and that always provides stimulating entertainment for the wee ones. And of course there's the beach trips, which tire them out very quickly (nice for us!).
The kids are having a blast, and you know what? So are we!

What I've been up to lately

We've been on an organizing/cleaning spree around here lately. And the most recent thing on the list has been the pantry and cabinets. These usually get organized every couple of months, but between all the grocery trips and all the little hands reaching in to help themselves, they get awfully disorganized. Seeing these all nice and neat really makes me happy. I know, it's a little OCDish. Most of you probably already have nice and tidy organized cabinets, so this kind of pleasure is old news to you, but I still love the rush! I found out we had 11 peanut butters and 19 boxes of tea, oh my! You can see that on one of our pantry doors we hang some of the kids artwork, which always makes me smile when I see it.

It's true what they say about rabbits

This morning while I was rollerblading up and down the bike path, I saw SEVEN bunnies!! How cute, kinda sorta made me want to have another baby...but not quite!

The results are in

Last night, my midwife called with the results of the ultrasound. It turns out that my right ovary is enlarged (sorry if that's TMI) so now I have to go see a doctor who can tell me what we should do about it. If it's just water-filled, there's no harm in leaving it. If it's filled with anything else (???) they might need to go in and biopsy it, or possibly remove it. We'll see what he suggests, and I'll keep you posted!

Is the Big Guy trying to teach me something?

Yup, I think HE is, and the lesson is patience.

I've had some weird things happening lately, and I went to my midwife who drew some blood to run tests. The blood tests all came back normal, phew! But then she decided I should have an ultrasound just to make sure everything looked okay. So I had that done last week, those internal ultrasounds are not too pleasant. Then on Friday night, I missed a call from the midwife's office saying she wanted to discuss the results of my ultrasound with me, and that I should call back on Monday morning. Needless to say, it's been on my mind ALL weekend, although I have a pretty good feeling about it. I'm thinking she just doesn't leave test results on people's voicemail, no matter if it's good news or bad news.

I called this morning (Monday) at 9:00 but the answering service said to try back in about 15 minutes. So I called back at 9:30 and the receptionist said that there was no midwife in the office to talk to at the moment, but they would call me back.

So, the waiting game continues...ok, I get it God, I need more patience, lesson learned, now give me the results!! Oh, yeah, seems I still need a little patience :-)

"Lord, grant me patience to bear the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Please keep in your prayers...

my old college Roomie who is due July 14th with little Darby! See her blog here. Good luck Annie!

The difference between a new mom...

...and a tired, uh I mean experienced, mom is the ability to remain calm.

When John-Paul was about 20 months old, he was eating some Kix cereal, and shoved one Kix up his nose. I completely freaked out, ran to get the tweezers (because I could see it stuck up there), and tried to pull it out. However, I wasn't able to grasp it, and as my heart was racing, I finally realized that if I held a tissue to his nose, he would blow. Sure enough, he blew and out flew the now non-edible Kix.

Fast forward to 4 years and 2 kids later. Eamon (21 months) was eating his "mix" which is just some cheerios and raisins in a bowl, while I was making muffins. He started whining, and saying "Nose, Mama, nose" and I went over to see what was wrong. I looked in, assuming he had a boogie, but I didn't see anything and went back to muffin making. A few seconds later came the same plea, this time a little whinier and louder, "Nose, please Mama, nose". This time I went over and he was sticking his finger into his left nostril, which is unfortunately a common sight around here. It dawned on me that he was eating nose-sized food, and so I held his right nostril and told him to blow. He did, and nothing came out. So I told him to try again, and this time some brown liquid came out. Eewww! One more blow and I could see the misplaced raisin, and the final blow had it in my hand (yes, I disinfected).

After the raisin came out, I realized I hadn't been nervous at all, I didn't make a scene, and nobody got upset. I told Eamon that food was for mouths and not for noses, and that was the end of that. Hmmmmm, seems like this parenting thing does get easier with time and experience, good thing too because it couldn't get much harder, um, I mean, challenging, er, what I mean to say is FUN!

A new nephew!

Welcome to this crazy family, PJ! Born 7/5/08, 7lbs. 20 in. and cute as a button! This makes the total count 15 grandkids for my parents, with 2 more on the way.

As for Phil and I, we now have 15 nieces and nephews!! Wow, this family is trying to take over the world, so watch out!

Happy 4th of July

We had a fun-filled 4th of July on Friday. In the morning, we took the kiddos to a parade in order to celebrate their American Freedom, but all they cared about was catching the candy!

After we came home and had lunch (including a special red/white/blue dessert that John-Paul had read about in a magazine and insisted we make) the kids took a nice nap. While they were resting their pretty heads, Phil and I cleaned the house, and when they awoke, we went to a playground.

In the evening, we had four priests over for dinner...Fr. Dave, Fr. Landry, Fr. Jay, and Mnsr. O'Connor. What a holy night! The food was great (see the picture of the yummy cake), and we finished up the evening by playing Wii. It was a nice time, and you can peruse the pictures below if you wish ;-)

I still forget

This morning, when I took the laundry out of the dryer, I saw a pink onesie.

Uuugghhh, I thought, I must have washed a red shirt, and the color bled onto the white onesie.

And then I remembered, I have a pink onesie because I HAVE A GIRL! Duh, three boys in a row will do that to ya!